Feathered Wings and Things
by midori-thumb
Summary: Van and Hitomi spend a summer night together. not in the way you're thinking. i just couldn't think of any other way to word it.
1. Summer Night

disclaimer: i do not own escaflowne or the characters.

i'm sorry if you don't enjoy this story, but i hope that you do enjoy it, and afterwards feel as if you hadn't wasted your time. thank you.

- midori-thumb

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Feathered Wings and Things

Summer Night

It was a calm and clear night, a slight breeze was playing through the trees. Hitomi was peacefully sleeping under her sheets, in the bed chamber given to her at the Fanelia castle whenever she came to visit.

But elsewhere in the castle, Van was tossing and turning. He had long ago tossed his shirt and sheets aside, and tried to stay off his back. It was killing him, his back was itchy and on fire. Van was unable to get any rest at all, so he eventually gave up on trying to sleep.

"Damn," he groaned and got out of bed. He quietly made it through the halls and out of the castle.

He wandered through the woods until he made it to a clearing. He kneeled down on the grass, and tried to meditate to take his mind off the pain.

Hitomi turned in her bed, she found a new position in which to fall back asleep, but she had sensed something. She tried to ignore it, but curiosity got the better of her. She crept out of bed and made to put her bathrobe on, but thought against it. It was too hot of a night to wear an extra layer.

She then silently left her room. Hitomi made her way out of the darkened castle, coming across a few sleepy guards on her way. They simply nodded to her as she passed by. She blushed slightly, she was wearing her short, spaghetti-strapped nightgown.

"_I probably should have put my bathrobe on," _Hitomi thought as she continued on her way. She had forgotten that there were people about in the castle halls even at night.

She had made it out of the castle and walked around the grounds a bit, looking and feeling for any type of sign. Hitomi then took her pendent off, using it to direct her to him. She knew who it was who had disturbed her sleep.

The pendent swung in the direction that was slightly to her right. Heading off in that direction, she placed her pendent around her neck once again. She finally came across a clearing, and spotted him.

Hitomi stood back for a while and watched him from behind a tree.

Van was kneeling on the ground, in the center of the clearing. The moon light spilled across the grass in the clearing. His bare back was towards her, and Hitomi could see that the skin around his shoulder blades was rather red.

She was worried for him, but she didn't interrupt.

Hitomi watched then as Van's shoulder blades became larger, and the skin broke. Long white feathery wings began to slowly sprout upwards from his back, each wing about twice the length of Van's height. The white coloring of the feathers was like that of the moon.

Van's wings had fully emerged. Van spread them out, and stretched them as much as he could. He flapped them a little, and ruffled the feathers, a few feathers fell free from the wings and slowly drifted to the ground.

Van was still on his hands and knees when Hitomi carefully came around the tree and began to approach him. He jerked his head in her direction. He seemed startled at first, but then his face relaxed. He gave her a smile before he dropped his head.

"I'm sorry," Hitomi began as she walked the rest of the distance between them, "for intruding." She knelt down in front of him, and arranged the skirt of her night gown.

"You weren't intruding," Van said, his head was still bowed. "Sorry if I woke you," he apologized.

"Don't think about it," she responded, shaking her head.

Van settled down further on the ground by sitting cross-legged. He let out a deep breath, sounding relaxed.

"My back was killing me, every now and then I have to stretch out my wings," he said, his eyes closed. "It was uncomfortable in the castle, I think the heat agitated them," he explained, looking up and giving her a smile. Hitomi smiled in return.

Van closed his eyes and bowed his head again. She gazed at him. Beads of sweat covered his brow and collected on his bare chest. His hair was even slightly curled at the tips, due to his sweat.

Hitomi reached out and moved the soaked strands of his hair away from his forehead. As she did, he tilted his head slightly upwards so that her fingertipsrested on his forehead. Her skin was delightfully cool compared to his. Hitomi kept her hands there for a moment before letting them slip gently off down the sides of his face.

"They're beautiful," she quietly remarked, gazing upon the feathered wings as they shined in the moonlight. He lifted his face to see her. She met his eyes and her gaze fell down to the ground as she blushed. He grinned at that.

"May I . . . I touch them?" she asked timidly. Van smiled and nodded to her. He then laid down on his stomach, on top of the cool grass. The breeze was picking up, sending another feather from his wings to float to the ground.

Hitomi shifted her position so she was beside him. She lifted her hands to his wings and gingerly stroked them. Van closed his eyes, enjoying the gentle stroking of his wings.

As Hitomi continued to stroke his wings, she began to hum. Van found it quite relaxing, and he closed his eyes. He lay there silently listening to her hum a soft melody unknown to him.

They carried on like that, until Van noticed that the humming became softer and was broken apart. Hitomi's strokes became slower, until eventually they stopped all together, along with Hitomi's soft humming.

Van felt Hitomi's hand on his back, it was lying still, draped over him. He lifted his head slightly and glanced over at Hitomi. She lay curled up against his side, asleep on the ground, her one hand resting on his back. Hitomi then sleepily moved her head, to where her forehead rested against his shoulder.

Van knew that he should wake her, and that they should both go head back to the castle to go to sleep.

In their own rooms, and their own beds. But he told himself he was too tired to do all that.

Van smiled, and then shifted one of his wings so that it was folded on top of Hitomi, blocking her from the now stronger breeze. He then closed his eyes, and drifted slowly to sleep, his head resting on his folded arms.

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it gets better, i hope. but then again, a kiss makes everything better. (hint hint) 

thanks for reading.

- midori thumb


	2. In the Morning

disclaimer: i do not own escaflowne, or it's characters.

here you are, i hope you like it.

-midori-thumb

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Feathered Wings and Things

In the Morning

The sun was shining in an early morning sky, the sun light was falling on Hitomi's sleeping face. Her eyes slowly opened as she noticed the sun's warmth. She looked in front of her, and saw someone beside her.

She blushed, it was Van. He lay on his stomach, his head resting on his bare arms and he was facing her. She smiled, he seemed so peaceful while he was sleeping. She continued to look at him, until his eyes opened suddenly, and he was looking back at her. Hitomi blushed and averted her eyes. He smiled.

"Good morning," Van said quietly, with another grin.

"Good morning," she returned shyly.

He lay there looking in to her green eyes, and she gazed back into his brown ones, slight blush playing on her face.

Van then slowly moved his arms out from under him and lifted himself to his knees. Hitomi uncurled herself and sat up beside him. Hitomi looked over at him and marveled at his wings once again. They were shining beautifully in the sun.

"How beautiful," she said breathlessly. Van looked at her, and smiled when he realized what she was looking at.

"You've said that before," he remarked teasingly.

"Yes but, they seem even more beautiful in the sun light," she said quietly.

Van remained on his knees as he stretched his wings out. They then began to shrink and sink beneath his skin. The wings disappeared, his skin was only slightly more red where the skin sealed up, then the rest of his skin's complexion.

Van looked over at Hitomi and smiled as he sat down on the ground. She sat next to him as he wiped his brow with his arm. Van leaned back on his arms and threw his head back to look at the sky. The sun was rising, and Hitomi joined him in watching it. She then glanced over at him.

He was beautiful, the early morning sun shining off his dark hair and off his tan, bare arms and chest. She blushed as her gaze had moved to his chest and strayed there. She quickly turned her head, and looked down at the grass.

Van noticed her quick movement, and looked over at her. Hitomi's thin frame was folded neatly, with her legs against her chest. Her blonde hair lighter, as it reflected the sun's rays. Part of her hair was blocking her face from his view, which made him curious.

Van reached out and moved her hair behind her ear, she was slightly startled at first, but let him continue. Hitomi looked over at him, he was resting on his arm again and was leaning toward her. Van met her eyes.

"Sorry, I just wanted to see your face," he said to her quietly. Hitomi blushed.

He just kept looking at her, and she looked back. After a long moment, and a longer silence, Hitomi nervously said, "This is…strange."

"I know," he answered quietly, never looking away from her eyes. "But what else is there to do . . . after this?" he asked just as quietly, with a slight grin playing on his lips.

"I . . . don't know," she said quietly. Their eyes were fixed to each other, and it was becoming more and more intense and harder to break away from the other's gaze. Hitomi began to redden, and yet she couldn't look away. Her heart was pounding.

Van then leaned in closer to her, he reached over her and placed his hand on her waist. Hitomi turned pale as he then moved her so she was right next to him. Their eyes still locked together.

Van slowly leaned in to her, her eyelids dropped, finally breaking their gaze. He first kissed her lightly on the lips, she tasted too sweet. She trembled as he kissed her again, more deeply. As they kissed, Van made Hitomi lean back to where she was laying down on the grass.

The kiss was broken by Van, he leaned away to meet her eyes again with his. He held her gaze and then moved a strand of her hair away from her face. Van smiled at her, and she timidly smiled back.

He leaned in again and gently tapped her nose with his own. She let out a small laugh, but was soon silenced by another kiss.

Van leaned over her and sank deeper into the kiss. Hitomi moved her hands to lay her palms flat against his chest, and they slowly moved up over his collarbones and wrapped behind his neck and head. Hitomi pulled him closer to her, to where Van's chest began to lay up against her own. They could feel each other's chests move as they breathed more quickly.

Van broke away from the kiss quickly, then laid down beside her on his side. He let his arm fall down across her chest. Hitomi was flushed, and tried to catch her breath.

Hitomi turned to look at Van, he had his eyes closed, and his nose was pressed against her shoulder. He then kissed her shoulder, she laughed and Van smiled. He kissed her again on the arm, and held her close to his chest. His eyes remained closed, as she looked at him the best she could from her position.

"Hey, don't go asleep," she said quietly, her own eyes closing slightly, "we have to go to the castle."

Hitomi's eyes shot open, "They're probably wondering where you are." She grabbed his arm and tried to move it, but he wasn't budging. "There could be panic in Fanelia right now because their king is missing." She tried once more to break his grip.

"No you don't," he said, moving his head to rest it up against Hitomi's. "Hitomi. I think Fanelia can spare to be without a king for an hour or two." His breath was warm against her neck, and she closed her eyes. The sun was very warm on her skin, she noticed and then started again.

"What time is it? What about breakfast? Surely someone by now has noticed you're gone," she said more alert. Hitomi didn't bother trying to break Van's gentle yet strong grasp, because she knew he wouldn't let go unless he did it on his own.

"Okay," Van sighed, Hitomi could feel it on her neck. "Calm down, we'll go," he said, with a grin. He released her and lifted himself up slightly, resting on his hands. She looked up at him, he had her pinned between his stretched out arms.

"One more thing though," he said, and then dropped his face down to hers. He lightly brushed his lips up against hers before he kissed her once more. Hitomi flushed.

Van then sat up on his knees, and Hitomi did the same. They both got up on their feet, Hitomi was holding on to Van's arms for support as they did. They then made the mistake of gazing into each others eyes again.

"Oh no," Hitomi whispered.

Van whispered back in a teasing manner, "Don't worry, we're going back," realizing what she was worrying about. "But we'll finish up later today."

The End

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there you are, thanks for reading. 

- midori-thumb


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